Leadership Essentials for Project Management in Ghana s Building Construction Industry

Transcription

1 Leadership Essentials for Project Management in Ghana s Building Construction Industry Nii Armah Addy Snr. Lecturer Dept. of Management SMU Ghana addy@smughana.com James Robert Cofie Teaching and Administrative Assistant Pentecost University College, Accra jrcofie@pentvars.edu.gh ABSTRACT - Project management is an important role in many organizations. It brings together competencies and techniques from diverse fields for the purpose of achieving project objectives. New projects cut across all sectors, and unfortunately some are plagued with high failure rates. More than ever before, leaders are being held highly accountable for projects that they manage such leadership roles include: situational leadership, contingency leadership, transactional leadership, and transformational leadership. The essentials of leadership in successful project management become the fulcrum of this paper. KEYWORDS: Leaders, Leadership, theories of Leadership, Project, Project Management, and Building Construction. I. INTRODUCTION A project is a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result [33]. The nature of building construction indicates a definite beginning and end. The end is reached when project objectives have been achieved or when the project is terminated because its objectives will not or cannot be met, or when the need for the project no longer exists. This paper took a particular reference to a case study in project management in building construction in Ghana. A project may create a unique product, service, and/or result. Although repetitive elements may be present in some project deliverables, this repetition may not change the fundamental uniqueness of the project work. A project is activities that are typically performed by more than one person and has the following characteristics: Project has a specific and measurable goal. Project has a specific time frame. Project use resources. Projects consist of interdependent, yet individual steps known as tasks. Although general, the four characteristics of projects mentioned are specifically related to building construction in Ghana. In managing a building construction project, the project management is accomplished through the application and integration of the project management processes of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. To ensure the success of the project management process, leaders with necessary expertise are required to handle effectively and efficiently various aspects of resources: money, machines and equipment, human resources, and materials to attain desired results. The role of project leader is vital to the success of organisations in building construction. Some of the problems encountered in building construction projects can be attributed to: unclear goals about certain requirements and misdirection by senior construction executive, inadequate resources, uncommitted team members, inadequate planning, goal and resource changes, communication breakdowns, escalation of project cost and unrealistic June 2014 Vol II Issue ISSN No

2 schedules. To ameliorate these attributed failures, effective project leadership is required. The following claims are about construction in Ghana [31]: The construction industry constitutes a large part of the economy. Construction contributes between 5 and 10 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Construction employs up to 10 percent of the working population. Construction is responsible for about half of the gross fixed capital formation. It is estimated that investments in housing alone account for 2 to 8 percent of Gross National Product (GNP); between 10 and 30 percent of gross capital formation; between 20 and 50 percent of accumulated wealth; and between 10 and 40 per cent of household expenditure. Owing to its large size, the construction industry in Ghana contributes directly to the growth of the national economy. effectively and efficiently to achieve project objectives. An effective leader motivates the project team towards achieving the desired outcome of a project [34]. A project manager should be recognised as a leader not only by the project team but also by everyone involved in the process, inclusive of clients and the organization [38]. In striving for this recognition, the project manager is required to keep the spotlight on the vision, inspire the team, promote teamwork and collaboration, champion the project, and remove obstacles to progress [17]. Project manager as a leader needs to fulfil the following requirements [24]: Determination of the organisation s purpose or vision, The exploitation or maintenance of core competencies, Development of human capital, Sustaining an effective organisational culture, II. LITERATURE REVIEW Existing literature on leadership in project management in the building industry in Ghana is scarce. Therefore his paper heavy relied on western literature to shed light on the building construction industry in Ghana. Emphasize ethical practices, Establish balanced organisational controls, and Provide mechanism to transfer knowledge across all parts in the project. A. LEADERSHIP IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT A project s success is, in part, contingent on effectively managing the constraints of time, costs, and performance expectations. In order to achieve project success it is essential that the project manager possess and display appropriate leadership skills. By applying the appropriate leadership attributes such as balance, proficiency, persistence, sound decision making, imagination, vision, values, integrity, trust, and sincerity; a project manager could direct projects A basic ingredient of project management skills is the degree of influence and leadership that the project manager has over the project team [23]. The available literature suggests that project management competencies are broad and multifarious. Some of the requisite building project management leadership skills are building relationships and communication, adaptability to change initiative, resolving conflict, leading the project team, managing corporate culture, credibility and responsibility, motivating, and commitment to project objectives. Some required skills of project managers are communication, organisation, team building, June 2014 Vol II Issue ISSN No

3 leadership, coping, and technological skills. These skills embodies a wide range of abilities linked to the inherent characteristics of the project management role, such as working under defined time and resource constraints and achieving unique outcomes [28]. In summary, the role of a project manager is one of prioritizing and ensuring that diversions from the established objectives are avoided [41]. B. LEADERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS According [15], leadership is a dynamic relationship based on mutual influence and common purpose between leaders and collaborators in which both are moved to higher levels of motivation and moral development as they influence others through action to accomplish an objective. Bass [2] also suggested that leadership is the ability to influence those you are leading towards the achievement of goals and objectives. Pierce and Newstrom [32] further indicate a leader as one who exercised intentional authority over one or more other individuals, in an effort to guide actions toward the accomplishment of some mutual goal; such a goal requires mutually supporting actions among members of the group. Lapp [27] makes it clear that organisational setting requires the leader to interact with followers on a regular basis while listening and directing them towards success. Dvir et al., [11] indicates that good leaders should be trusted by their followers for whom they provide a sense of autonomy. The leader should be consistent with decision making for followers as well as the overall good of the organisation. The leader should also be able to envision potential problems and pitfalls before they happen [16]. According to [18], they believed effective leader ought to be able to balance many variables while mobilising the organisation s resources in pursuit of a common objective. They further alleged that achieving such objectives required the unification of purpose for both leader and followers. To achieve balance does not necessarily rely on the development of any particular trait or style of leadership but more on the leader s ability to analyse the situation and adopt a leadership approach that mobilize followers [42]. Mumford et al., [29] brings to the fore that leaders were likely to succeed in situations where the characteristics of the leaders are specific to the organisation. Therefore, the general understanding of leadership guiding this paper is the ability to recognise the need for and implement change, establish direction, align people, motivate and inspire, communicate, build teams and share decision making, mentor and coach subordinates and demonstrate a high degree of integrity. C. THEORETICAL CONCEPTS OF PROJECT LEADERSHIP According to [30], there have been about 65 different classification of leadership since the late 1950 s. Indeed there are a variety of leadership styles that may be applicable for dealing with the many challenges confronted by project management leadership. The following section reviews different theoretical approaches to leadership as: trait approach, behavioural approach, situational leadership, contingency leadership, theory, transformational leadership and transactional leadership will be reviewed. i. Trait Approach Trait theories are leadership perspectives that focus on individual leaders and attempt to determine the personal characteristics that great leaders share. Those traits can learn and implement over time. The character traits associated with leadership are identified as: Enterprising Spirit: Enterprising spirit refers to a set of characteristics that reflect a high level of effort. It includes high demand for achievement, constant striving for June 2014 Vol II Issue ISSN No

4 improvement, ambition, energy, tenacity, and initiative. Loyalty: Leaders who demonstrate loyalty and honesty, and are willing to admit to mistakes, display key traits that followers look for in their leaders. A leader will also increase their influence when people trust and believe his or her loyalty. Leadership Motivation: Great leaders not only have an enterprising spirit, but they also want to lead. They have a high desire for power, preferring to be in position of leadership rather than that of a follower. Integrity: Integrity is measured by an individual s actions and words. People who do not perform and do not execute what they promised are not considered good leader. Self-confidence: Self-confidence is important for a number of reasons. The leadership role is challenging, and setbacks are inevitable. Self-confidence allows a leader to overcome obstacles, make decisions despite uncertainty, and instil confidence in others. Knowledge: Effective leaders have a high level of knowledge about their industries, companies, and technical matters. Leaders must have the intelligence to interpret vast quantities of information. In addition to the traits above, there are other characteristics which have significant influence on leadership including being forward-looking, competent, inspiring, and intelligent. ii. Behavioural Approach Behavioural theories of leadership do not focus on inborn traits or capabilities; rather, the focus is on what leaders actually do. Three general categories of leadership behaviours are mentioned frequently in the literature: behaviours related to task performance; behaviours related to group maintenance, and behaviours related to employee participation in decision-making: Task Performance Behaviours: Task performance behaviours are the leader s efforts to ensure that teams or organisations reach their goals. Those behaviours include a focus on work efficiency, quality and accuracy, quantity of output, and adherence to regulations. Group Maintenance Behaviours: These actions are taken to ensure the satisfaction of group members, develop and maintain harmonious work relationships, and preserve the social stability of the group, focusing on people s feelings and comfort, appreciation, and stress reduction. Participation in Decision-Making: This behaviour appears during the process of making decisions, in which leaders can range from autocratic to democratic. In autocratic leadership, the leader makes decisions on his own and then announces those decisions to the group; whiles in democratic leadership, the leader solicits input from subordinates. Studies of how a leader s behaviour influences employee attitudes and performance have focused on autocratic versus democratic decision styles, or on performance versus maintenance-oriented behaviours. iii. Situational Leadership Based on a model developed by Hersey, Blanchard and Johnson situational leadership consist of a supportive and a directive dimension, each applied as required in given situations. Initially the model suggested that leadership styles changed as a function of a leader's maturity and an organisation s (and its work force s) maturity. This approach was later modified and the concept of maturity changed to readiness [19]. The situational leadership change emerged because readiness is considered a less emotionally charged word than maturity, which has certain other implications, although readiness is conceptually equivalent to maturity [35]. June 2014 Vol II Issue ISSN No

5 The situational model of leadership assumes that there is no one best style of leadership or way to influence people in project management. The style to be adopted depends on the readiness level of the people the leader is attempting to influence [19]. The supportive behaviours of this style aid followers in feeling comfortable about themselves, their fellows and the situation. Directive behaviour assists followers in goal accomplishment through directions aimed at establishing goals and how they should be evaluated, creating time lines, explaining roles and showing how goals are to be achieved [38]. Situational leadership characterises leaders as interacting in two separate and distinct leadership directions either task motivated or relation motivated (Hersey and Blanchard, 2006). Task motivation is characterised by the extent to which the leader engages in spelling out the duties and responsibilities of his followers. Task motivated leaders gain satisfaction from completing the job regardless of the effects on the relationship between the leader and group members. In essence group morale is of very little concern to the task motivated leader [1]. Task motivated behaviour is practiced by telling followers what, how, where, when and who should perform such duties and responsibilities. This is the directive aspect of the leader s role [19]. Relationship behaviour is characterised defined by the leader s efforts at communication, particularly listening and facilitating. Relationship motivated leaders gain satisfaction from working well with other people even at the expense of failing to complete the task [1]. Relationship motivated leaders are more concerned about group members feelings and will even go as far as to tolerating disruptive group members. This is the supportive aspect of the leader s role [19]. The application of situational leadership requires the following: Identify what is happening, account for what is happening, formulate leadership actions, choose leadership style for the situation, use organisational leadership skills, and influence culture by motivating, influencing communications, influencing the group and leading change [19]. The key variable affecting the success of leadership in a given situation depends on the concept of follower readiness, the extent to which a follower is willing and able to accomplish specific tasks. The leader must consider two components in assessing follower readiness. There is ability (job readiness); identified as the knowledge, experience and skills being brought to a task or activity. There is also willingness (psychological readiness); the extent to which the follower has the commitment, confidence, and motivation to accomplish a specific task [19]. iv. Contingency Theory of Leadership Contingency theory of leadership impinges on situational leadership in that it suggested a fully articulated model dealing with both leader traits and situational variables [38]. He divided leaders into relationship-motivated and task-motivated groups by means of their relatively favourable or unfavourable description of the leader's least preferred co-worker on a set of bipolar adjectives. Fiedler [14] considered the relative effectiveness of these two types of leaders in eight different situational types created by a combination of three contrasting variables: (a) leader-member relation, (b) follower-task structure, and (c) leader-position power. Leader-member relations are concerned with the confidence levels and atmospheres within followers as well as their attraction and loyalty to the leader. A good leader-member relationship exists where followers like, trust and enjoy a positive rapport with the leader. The reverse is true where follower hostility exists and the atmosphere is unfriendly. Task structure refers to how routine and predictable the task of the follower may be. Clearly structured tasks have definite accomplishment goals, limited solution alternatives, and lend more control to the leader. Vague and unclear task reduces the leader s control. June 2014 Vol II Issue ISSN No

6 Position power is concerned with the degree to which the position enables the leader to get his followers to comply with and accept his leadership and decisions [40]. Fiedler [14] found that the relationshipmotivated leader outperformed the task-motivated leader in four of the eight situations but that the reverse was true in the other four situations. He further contended that leadership motivation is a rather enduring characteristic that is not subject to change or adaptation. According to the Fiedler [14] situational factors determine the degree to which situations within organisations will be favourable. It is suggested that situations where there exists good leader-follower relations, defined tasks and strong leader position will be most favourable. On the other hand situations with poor leader-follower relations, unstructured tasks and weak leader position power would be least favourable. Moderately favoured situations would fall somewhere between the other two situations. This means that contingency concept of situational leadership varies according to situations and the level at which they are favourable to the leaders. v. Transformational Leadership Burns [6] viewed transformational leadership as a requirement to achieve and successfully manage change amidst constantly changing world conditions. His model of transformational leadership refers to a transformation in the assumptions and thoughts of followers while creating a commitment for the strategies, objectives and mission of the firm or company. Thompson [38] suggested that in transformational leadership a separation of leadership skills can be described by leader/follower relations that promise rewards to followers for compliance and penalties for non-compliance with the leaders suggestions, requirements and expectations. Bass [2] argued that the transformational leader acted on deeply held personal value systems. Transformational leaders encouraged their followers to accept organisational activities by developing their abilities to look above and beyond their own self interests. Bass [2] further suggested that the transformational leader motivate followers through raising the followers perception of the importance and value of specific organisational goals. This could be accomplished by instilling in followers the need to place organisations goals before their own and motivating followers to aim for the satisfaction of self-actualisation needs. According to Northouse [30], the transformational leader transforms the needs, values, preferences and aspirations of followers from self-interests to collective interests. Bass [3] also indicated that transformational leaders incorporate six leadership behaviours: Articulating vision, providing an appropriate model, fostering group goal acceptance, expecting higher performance, providing individualised support and offering intellectual stimulation. One factor that separated transformational leaders from most other leaders was the ability to create and communicate a compelling vision or purpose for the group [4]. They further suggested that transformational leaders stimulate, strengthen, and fascinate people in addition to having an inspiring vision. Transformational leaders generate and maintain trust and openness, qualities that strengthen member commitment and loyalty [30]. As the name implies, transformational leadership is a process that inspires and stimulates followers to change. The change, in turn, commits followers to the leader s mission rather than self-interests [20]. vi. Transactional Leadership Burns [6], sought to establish that leadership can be viewed as either a transactional or transformational process. Also transactional leaders as those oriented towards accomplishing the task at hand and at maintaining good relations with those working with the leader by exchanging of rewards promised for performance [11]. Transactional leadership diverges from transformational leadership in that the transactional leader does not individualise the needs of subordinates nor focus on their personal development [30]. Transactional leaders exchange things of value with subordinates to advance their June 2014 Vol II Issue ISSN No

7 own as well as their subordinate s agenda. They further stated that transactional leaders gain influence from subordinates when it is in their best interest [26]. The behaviour of transactional leaders is dictated by the application of contingent rewards and /or management by exception. The active transactional leader offers rewards to the follower for meeting objectives that were mutually set and agreed upon previously. The leader in an active transactional relationship determines the goal and then defines what the subordinate will get for achieving that goal [11]. If the subordinate attains the objective then the reward could be a raise in pay, a promotion or some other form of recognition within the work group [32]. The passive transactional leader on the other hand employs an avoidance of corrective actions once goals are achieved [21]. vii. Leadership Challenges Facing Project Managers Project managers are accustomed to organised, predictable, logical, well-structured, detailed, and standardised environment governed by objective rules and controllable variables [36]. In contrast, projects tend to be characterised by crisis, uncertainty, and suspense, which combine to test the ability and performance of the project managers in coordinating and controlling a diverse selection of functional specialists, over which they may have little direct authority [12]. These contrasting positions could make effective leadership one of the most challenging areas to apply in project management [22]. Project performance is often less a matter of understanding the constraints of the project and more a function of the personal skills and capabilities of the potential leaders available [38]. In addition project managers have traditionally emphasized technical knowledge and skills as the key ingredients in managing projects [5]. The growing importance of the organisational and human factors of project management, however, makes the requirement of leadership skills essential for the effective management of projects [37]. Staffing and assigning appropriately skilled project resources present some of the most challenging areas within which to employ effective project management techniques [12]. Real estate project managers, for example, have to combine technical knowledge and expertise with behaviours that engender effective multiorganisational teamwork and communication if successful outcomes are to be achieved [39]. Engle [13] supports this position by pointing out that projects require process leaders, as projects are primarily an exercise in dealing with other people using the key skills that are best portrayed through leadership, organisation, and communications. Development and management of the project team are core aspects of the human resource management competency in project management. Project teams consist of individuals from previously loosely coupled areas in an organisation brought together to perform complex or specialized tasks of a multidisciplinary nature [8]. The short-term interaction of projects presents one of the greatest challenges to individuals managing performance within it [39]. They further explained that projects involve undertaking a range of work activities for a finite period with one or more defined objectives. Added to this is a project setting characterized by groups of individuals working together for short periods of time before being disbanded and redeployed elsewhere within the organization (Atkins and Gilbert 2003, pp ). There are many projects experiencing limited abilities in meeting the demands of capital programmes due to the limited skills of their human resources. The resources level in project management is more acute than most other disciplines. The allocation of human resources in the execution of projects is usually made according to the experience and intuition of project managers. June 2014 Vol II Issue ISSN No

8 Successful negotiation for project staff assignments is oftentimes dependent on the leadership qualities of project managers and their ability to ensure that the project receives appropriately competent staff in the required time frame [10]. As the contents of the projects become more complex and the required abilities to carry them out more diversified, there in an increasing need for logical support systems to assist decision makers when seeking the best possible deployment of the human resources [43]. Dainty [10] recommends a predictive tool designed on a competencies approach that will help to identify selection techniques or psychometrics that are likely to result in useful evidence for the job role being undertaken. The roles of project management tools are not only to help the project execute as planned but also to support learning by providing a mechanism for planning, communicating expectations, and recognizing the deviations or successes of a project [25].The planning tools provide the original baseline from which actual results are compared. The planning tools facilitate learning-by-doing, by providing the explicit definition of the goals and expectations or understanding of the project. III. METHODOLOGY The study employed mixed method strategies (quantitative and qualitative) in analysing the data collected. By way of broad overview, the data collection was centred on the use of questionnaire in conjunction with interview to solicit respondents views on leadership within project management with specific reference to building construction in Ghana. This data was collected using mixed method where strong themes emerged. Creswell and Clark [9] define mixed methods as a research design with philosophical assumptions as well as methods of inquiry. As a methodology, it involves philosophical assumptions that guide the direction of the collection and analysis of data and the mixture of qualitative and quantitative data in a single study or series of studies.its central premise is that the use of quantitative and qualitative approaches in combination provides a better understanding of research problems than either approach alone.the population was the case study area. A purposive sampling technique was used. Data was drawn from both primary and secondary sources. IV. DATA ANALYSIS Table 1: The data table below shows the distribution of job designations. (Source: Author s Field Work February, 2014) There are also 6 respondents each from project management office administration and others such as steel and structural engineers, project coordinator and facilities and asset office representing 20 percent. There are 2 respondents each occupying the office of project manager, relationship manager, communication officer, project estimator, risk manager and programme planner forming 6.67 percent respectively. The project office also include one chief project officer, programme manager, project scheduler and project controller all making up 3.33 percent respectively. A. IS LEADERSHIP NECESSARY IN COMPLETING PROJECTS SUCCESSFULLY? All respondents attest to the fact that leadership is necessary for completing project. One of the team leaders indicated that his immediate supervisor June 2014 Vol II Issue ISSN No

9 simplifies the team s role to ensure ease and continuous flow of work. The project team leader further explained that as the result of the working relationship that exist between the team and leadership, there is strong team participation, broader responsibility, trust and flexibility. This is not at variance with what was captured in the literature review by [7]. B. IS IMPORTANT FOR A LEADER TO HAVE FORMAL LEADERSHIP TRAINING TO BE SUCCESSFUL? management office advocates the importance of supervision and empowering their employees by giving them more responsibility, autonomy and participation in decision making. C. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT AT THE CASE STUDY AREA? In an interview with the Project Manager, it came to light that training is one of the cardinal points for the success of the organisation. The following points were noted as some of the benefits of training to the organisation: (Source: Author s Field Work February, 2014) Twenty-eight participants making percent agree that there is a need for formal leadership training to be successful. Some of the project leadership indicated that they were giving training both on the job and off the job. The project manager with a degree in Civil Engineering indicated that he was initially assigned to another project manager as his mentor until he assumed his current office. The researcher also learnt that some senior members of the project office have had the opportunity of travelling outside the country for training. The findings of the research are group into two. The first is the exclusive interview with the project manager. The latter is the additional findings observed by the researcher. It is evident from the research that without top management support project management office would not have been effective. Management supports and ensures quality management right from the beginning of tendering process. Furthermore, in driving out fear between workers and bosses in the case study area, the project Optimum utilisation of Human Resources (HR): Training and Development (T and D) helps in optimising the utilisation of Human Resource (HR) that further helps employees to achieve organisational as well as individual goals respectively. Development of HR: T and D help to provide an opportunity and broad structure for the development of HR i.e. technical and behavioural skills in the organisation. It also helps the employee in attaining personal growth Development of skills of employees: T and D helps in increasing the job knowledge and skills of employees at each level. It helps to expand the horizons of human intellect and an overall personality of the employees. Productivity: T and D helps in increasing the productivity of employees that helps the organisation further to achieve its long-term goals. Team spirit: T and D helps in inculcating the sense of teamwork, team spirit, and interteam collaborations. Healthy work environment: T and D helps in creating healthy working environment. It helps to build good employees relationship so that individual goal aligns with organizational goals. Health and safety: T and D helps in improving the health and safety of the organisation thus preventing obsolesces. June 2014 Vol II Issue ISSN No

10 Profitability: T and D leads to improved profitability and more positive attitudes towards profit orientation. Quality: T and D helps in improving upon the quality of work and work life. Organisational culture: T and D help to develop and improve organizational health culture and effectiveness. It helps in creating the learning culture within the organisation. Organisational climate: T and D helps in building the positive perception and feeling about the organisation. The employees get these feelings from leaders, subordinates and peers. It has been identified that leadership is one of the most vital and critical factors in good project management. Leadership is more than simply managing people or projects rather it is the art of affecting other team members behaviour in order to achieve goals and accomplish tasks successfully. V. FINDINGS From the data collected and their analyses, it was identified that there are certain factors that contribute to effective leadership in project management. These factors include the characteristics, behaviours and skills of project managers, the criteria used in selecting project team leaders and team members, as well as leadership practices of the case study area are the backbone of effective leadership. The factors identified were not at variance with those propounded by Hersey, Blanchard and Johnson (Situational Leadership Model), Fiedler (Contingency Theory), and Burns (Transactional and Transformational Leadership Theory) as described earlier in the literature review. The survey results confirm that an individual who demonstrates leadership skills will be promoted more easily. Thus, employees need this trait in order to achieve their career goals. However, quality leadership is important not only for individual s career pursuits, but it is also significant because it influences the whole project process. Furthermore, leadership is growing in importance, particularly in the light of the growing building construction industry in Ghana and the shift toward global projects and global project teams. The growth in building construction and its associated problems are becoming even more complex; one can no longer assume that a sole executive or manager can solve all problems by himself. A manager can deal with all of today s rapid changes, competitive threats, and escalating customer demands, instead, effective leadership must instill the organisation. As demonstrated by the literature review, good leaders are made through training. Those with the desire and ambition can elevate to a position of leadership and develop the tools to become effective leaders through a continuing process of self-study, education, training, and experience. Those who wish to gain leadership skills should observe the methods and skills of successful leaders. Although the perception- based survey has some limitations to support the entire research, other literature review including journals, books and the case study make the entire research considerable. From both the case study and the survey data, it demonstrates that the first step in gaining leadership skills is to develop a clear vision. Good leaders can make fair judgments toward themselves, and acknowledge both their strengths and weaknesses. They have goals and vision, plan and effectively communicate their vision through words, mannerism and/or actions. Successful leaders have a desire to take responsibility to create, to innovate, and to initiate. They are not content with merely taking care of what is already there; rather, they like to be innovative. Leaders provide answers, as well as direction, offer strength, dedication, and speak from experience, as well as understanding the problem at-hand and understanding the needs of the people they work with. Successful leaders do build trust by being consistent, dependable, and persistent. While good leaders have a positive view of themselves, they do not feel self-important; rather, they recognise their personal strengths, compensate for their weaknesses, June 2014 Vol II Issue ISSN No

11 nurture and continually develop their talents, and know how to learn from failure. They also strive for success, rather than merely trying to avoid failure. Building leadership skills requires taking risks and learning from those mistakes. Staying in easy, nonchallenging situations will never make a good leader; rather, facing difficult situations that require you to adapt and make changes is the best way to obtain leadership skills. Besides all of the actions mentioned and as shown by the results of the survey and the case study, in order to be an effective leader in project management, good leadership, behavioural skills, and training are necessary. VI. RECOMMENDATIONS Building leadership skills requires taking risks and learning from those mistakes. The study opens more vistas for exploration. With regard to the need for further research, the following areas could be investigated. First, given the shortage of information regarding the nature of the relationship between leadership style and project success, the researcher recommends other researchers to investigate how leadership style affects project success. A better understanding of this relationship can help project managers to be more effective leaders hence successful project management. Secondly, the question of which leadership style is most appropriate for different kinds of projects needs to be addressed in further research. This type of research can allow project managers to be selected to work on projects that most suit their leadership style. In this way, the project and the project manager will be matched to each other and the likelihood of the project being successful may be increased. Finally, the question of which leadership style is best needs to be investigated. If there is a single best leadership style for project managers, this would be an important focus for selecting and training project managers. Each of these three questions represents an important factor in our understanding of the relationship between the project manager s leadership style and project success. VII. CONCLUSION The study has shown that factors such as leadership style, behaviours and skills contribute immensely to effective leadership in project management. It was also evident throughout the study the ability to recognise the need for and implement change, establish direction, align people, motivate and inspire, communicate, build teams and share decision making, mentor and coach subordinates and a high degree of integrity contributes to effective leadership in building construction. VIII. REFERNCES [1] Arvidsson, M., Johansson, C., Ek, A., and Akselsson, R. (2007) Situational leadership in air traffic control. Journal of Air Transportation, 12(1), Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database. [2] Bass, B. M. (1990) Bass and Stogdhill s handbook of leadership: Theory, research and managerial applications. New York. Free Press. [3] Bass, B. M. (1998) Transformational leadership: Industrial, military, and educational impact. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. [4] Bennis, W., and Goldsmith, J. (1997) Learning to lead: A workbook on becoming a leader. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books. [5] Berg, M. E., and Karlsen, J. T. (2007) Mental models in project management coaching. Engineering Management Journal, 19(3), [6] Burns, J. M. (1978) Leadership. New York: Harper and Row. June 2014 Vol II Issue ISSN No

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